New horse coat color pattern called 'ýruskjóttur' discovered in Iceland

By Bianca Britton, CNN

Updated 1556 GMT (2356 HKT) November 28, 2018

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Photos:New horse coat color pattern found in Iceland called 'ýruskjóttur'

A brand new color variant has appeared on an Icelandic horse called Ellert. Instead of having the typical characteristics of a bay dun Icelandic horse -- with a bay body, black mane, tail and primitive markings -- he has white "speckling" across his body, as well as a bald white face and partial icy blue eyes.

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Photos:New horse coat color pattern found in Iceland called 'ýruskjóttur'

When he was born five years ago, his owners thought there'd been some sort of mix up during breeding. "We thought it was a mix up, that the mother had maybe gone to the wrong stallion," Ellert's owner Baldur Eiðsson said. "So we put him to DNA testing and Sær was definitely his father and his mother was Kengála."

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Photos:New horse coat color pattern found in Iceland called 'ýruskjóttur'

Ellert's DNA was sent to Tosso Leeb, professor and director of the Institute of Genetics at the University of Bern. He identified that Ellert was part of the "dominate white" gene -- and characterized the Icelandic horse as the first of its kind with the coat color allele: W21 (or ýruskjóttur).

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Photos:New horse coat color pattern found in Iceland called 'ýruskjóttur'

Ellert has already produced four healthy offspring with the same color pattern. His owners hope to spread the color and establish it throughout the Icelandic horse breed.

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Photos:New horse coat color pattern found in Iceland called 'ýruskjóttur'

Freyja Imsland, a genetic expert in Iceland who has worked closely with Eiðsson, told CNN that Ellert's variant is one-of-a-kind. "What makes Ellert unique is that he has a variant that is only present in him and his offspring -- this particular change doesn't exist in any other horse in the world," she said.

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Photos:New horse coat color pattern found in Iceland called 'ýruskjóttur'

The farm -- located in Iceland's south -- has already reserved breeding spots with Ellert for next summer. Eiðsson said they had noticed that interest in the stallion is rising. "We're trying to care for all of them in the best way so that they will carry this DNA to the next coming generations," he added.

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(CNN)Horses have been in Iceland since the time of the Vikings -- and thanks to the country's strict laws, they've been purebred for over 1,000 years.

But now, a new coat pattern has emerged.

Icelandic horse breeder, Baldur Eiðsson, said he couldn't believe it when the horse, Ellert, was born with a white splattering on his body. The stallion, he says, should have been either bay dun, or blue dun -- like its parents.

"It's not possible to get pinto colors from two one colored parents," Eiðsson told CNN Sport.

Ellert, who was born five years ago, takes after his mother's color. But instead of having the typical characteristics of a bay dun Icelandic horse -- with a bay dun body, black mane, tail and primitive markings -- he is "speckled" white, has a bald white face and partial icy blue eyes.

As well as his unique coat coloring, Ellert also has blue and brown eyes.

Freyja Imsland, a genetic expert in Iceland who has worked closely with Eiðsson, explained how Ellert's variant is one-of-a-kind.

"What makes Ellert unique is that he has a variant that is only present in him and his offspring -- this particular change doesn't exist in any other horse in the world," she said.

"As long as horses like this are bred to uniform colored horses that are pigmented all over -- no large markings -- everything will be fine," he said, adding that if Ellert was bred with another horse with a similar gene mutation -- it would increase the risk of deaf, or unhealthy offspring.

"One has to be careful and one has to be educated about these things," he said.

New pattern could be wiped out at any moment

Since his birth five years ago, Ellert has already produced four healthy offspring with the same coloring.

However, Imsland said the horses need to be carefully monitored -- as they could be wiped out at any moment.

"If something happened to them it could be the end of the color if it hasn't spread elsewhere," she said.

One of Ellert's trainers, Rósa Birna Þorvaldsdóttir, said that Ellert had been evaluated for breeding with an 8.56 conformation -- which is a score out of 10 rating a horse's bone structure, musculature and its body proportions.

Outside of breeding, she added that Ellert has also begun training again after having covered mares over the summer.

"The goal is to train him well to be shown in a breeding show for riding abilities also," Þorvaldsdóttir said,

Purebred for over 1,000 years

The Icelandic horse breed was developed after Norse settlers brought horses to colonize their new surroundings in the ninth and 10th centuries.

Known for their distinctive thick and plentiful mane and tail, they boast a finer coat in the summer and a longer, thicker coat in the winter to help protect them from Iceland's biting cold.

In an attempt to ward of degeneration of stock brought about by crossbreeding, a ban on importing horses into Iceland was introduced around the 10th century -- a law that still stands today.

As a result, the Icelandic horse has continued to be a pure breed for over 1,000 years. And just as no horse can be imported into Iceland from foreign shores, any Icelandic horse to depart the country is also forbidden to ever return.

They were the original horses of the Vikings. Taken to Iceland from Norway in the ninth and 10th centuries to help Norse settlers colonize their new surroundings. Fast forward a millennium, and after undergoing a unique policy of pure breeding, the Icelandic horse is today perhaps the most majestic of all members of the equine family.

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

Said to give off the impression of courage and power when being ridden, the Icelandic horse is distinctive for its thick and plentiful mane and tail. While boasting a finer coat in the summer, a longer, thicker coat with three distinct layers is grown to help protect them from Iceland's biting cold winter months.

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

"They're just really beautiful creatures and being around them, they are so calm and friendly," Icelandic photographer Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir tells CNN. "They're everywhere when you drive around in Iceland, and I couldn't really not take pictures of them because they really are a beautiful and easily accessible subject."

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

As early as the 10th century, in an attempt to ward off degeneration of stock brought about by crossbreeding, a ban on importing horses into Iceland was introduced -- a law that still stands today -- meaning the Icelandic horse has been pure bred for over 1,000 years. And just as no horse can be imported into Iceland from foreign shores, any Icelandic horse to depart the country is also forbidden to ever return.

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

If such measures fail to ensure that Icelandic horses remain the purest of breeds, a worldwide database, set up by the International Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations (FEIF), is on hand to help out. Each Icelandic horse in the database, living around the globe, can be traced back to ancestors from Iceland, while to register a new horse, proof of their Icelandic ancestry must be provided.

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

"They're definitely a huge sense of pride for Iceland," Guðleifsdóttir explains. "They're a really big part of Icelandic culture and Icelandic life as they've been around for a thousand years or more. While they may have been brought over originally from Norway, they've been over here for so long that they've been a part of everything that's happened here."

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

For Guðleifsdóttir, the beauty of the land that the Icelandic horse naturally inhabits is just as important for her photos as the subjects themselves. "I like to capture them like they're wild as it's really important for me as a photographer to help capture just how appealing Iceland really is as I'm so proud of it," she says.

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

"Iceland is still relatively sparsely populated and there's still large areas that are like being in the middle of nowhere," Guðleifsdóttir adds. "It really appeals to me to capture that beauty while it's still there because the rest of the world is obviously not like that. Everywhere else there's billboards, gas stations, fast-food places, but in Iceland stuff is still really open. I don't take it for granted as it won't be like that forever."

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

It may be their manes and tails that first catch the eye, but the Icelandic horse is most renowned for its ability to display two gaits in addition to the typical walk, trot and canter of other breeds. Icelandic horses can also tolt, a comfortable and ground-covering four-beat gait, as well as performing a flying pace, a speedy two-beat lateral gait with a moment of suspension between footfalls -- making them uniquely five-gaited.

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

The Icelandic horse breed is one of a kind. And the same can be said about Icelandic horse sporting competition. Based around their two additional gaits, events include examinations in tolt, as well as execution of four and five gait, while races in pace are also staged. Competitions take place around Europe, with a FEIF World Championships being staged every two years.

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Photos:The original horses of the Vikings up close and personal

But attending an Icelandic horse show is more than just attending a sporting event. The action on the track being just one part of a weekend that sees spectators pitch up tents and park their caravans, while their own Icelandic horses mingle with others in the surrounding fields.